DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge on Monday rejected a plea agreement with a funeral home owner accused of hiding nearly 190 decomposing bodies in an insect-infested building after family members of the deceased argued that the 15- to 20-year sentence the agreement called for was too lenient.
“The sentence negotiated by the parties does not adequately take into account the harms caused by these crimes,” State District Judge Eric Bentley said, describing his rare decision to abandon an agreement reached by the prosecution and defense for funeral home owner Carrie Halford.
Carrie Halford and her husband, John Halford, own Return to Nature Funeral Home, and are accused of dumping bodies between 2019 and 2023 at a building in Penrose, Colorado, about a two-hour drive south of Denver, and giving families fake ashes.
In court Monday, several family members objected to the plea agreement by describing the pain of discovering their relatives’ remains were not in the urn or ashes they had ceremoniously scattered, but instead had been languishing with nearly 190 other bodies, some for four years.
Tanya Wilson said her mother was placed on a floor covered in maggots, “and she left her mark on that floor, and left a permanent mark on my soul.”
Samantha Naranjo said she used to host Halloween parties. Then she learned that her grandmother’s body had been left to decompose with the others.
“It was difficult for me to get excited about decorating my house with skeletons, when all I could think about was the building where my grandmother’s body was buried,” she said, tears choking her words.
The Halfords each pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse last year, and Carrie Halford’s attorney, Michael Stuzinski, said Monday that the plea agreement was fair and would bring closure.
But Judge Bentley has now rejected Halford’s two plea agreements. Several members of Carrie Halford’s family on Monday called for a prison sentence of less than 200 years, which would include a year for each body discovered.
“We are not asking for revenge,” said Derek Johnson, whose mother was part of the horrific losses. “We are asking for recognition, and for the court to view each victim as a human being.”
Following the judge’s decision, Carrie Halford withdrew her guilty plea, paving the way for a trial that could last months beginning next year. John Halford previously withdrew his guilty plea and is also scheduled to stand trial.
While John Halford is accused of dumping the bodies, Bentley said Carrie Halford was the face of Return to Nature, and “it was her representation of agents that she knew was false that brought in the agents and kept the Halford crimes going.”
The damage extends beyond the 191 victims, Bentley said, pointing to the loss of trust of the community and nearly 1,000 other Return to Nature clients who now question the fate of their relatives’ remains.
Bentley also said he considered the need for deterrence in rejecting the plea agreement. Colorado has, for many years, had some of the weakest regulations for the funeral home industry in the country, leading to a large number of abuse cases involving fake ashes, fraud, and even the illegal sale of body parts.
In August, authorities announced that during the first search of a coroner-owned funeral home in Pueblo County, Colorado, they found 24 decomposed bodies behind a hidden door.
This investigation remains pending, with authorities reporting slow progress in identifying bodies that, in some cases, have been lying around for more than a decade.
The back-to-nature issue helped spark reforms, including routine inspections.
The Hallfords also admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations that the funeral home never did.
Officials said the two spent lavishly, buying a GMC Yukon, laser body sculpting, vacations, jewelry, and cryptocurrency. After pleading guilty in federal court, John Halford was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Carrie Halford is scheduled to be sentenced in the federal case in December.